(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rubber compound containing an aluminum pigment. The present invention further relates to fireboots including heat reflecting means therein. The present invention even further relates to a method for making a heat reflecting fireboot.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Presently firefighter's boots, though they perform very well in the field, have very little, if any, heat reflectivity. These boots are generally black in color, and black absorbs radiant heat as opposed to reflecting it. Efforts have been made to incorporate heat reflecting means in fireboots, but such efforts have been found to have drawbacks or disadvantages. For example, silver coatings have been applied to fireboots to enhance heat reflectivity, but flaking off of the coating made such applications impractical. Other efforts to laminate fireboots with an aluminized fabric also failed because it was expensive and problems were encountered with finding compatible adhesives to adhere the fabric to the boot.
A number of patents teach the use of aluminum compounds in rubber compositions, but none have been found acceptable for use in a fireboot. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,607,130 teaches rubber footwear having an elastically stretchable top portion which includes a textile base of knitted stockinet fabric coated on the outside with vulcanized rubber and a light reflector mounted on the rubber coating. One light reflecting material is a metallic aluminum powder which is sprinkled into a tacky varnish layer. And, U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,760 teaches a rubber composition including an aluminum trihydrate filler. The aluminum trihydrate filler is added by stirring slowly into latex.